The present invention relates to a farm implement. More particularly, the present invention relates to a farm implement for grinding a bale of forage material.
Livestock producers utilize large round or rectangular cross-sectional bales that range in weight between about 500 and 2,200 pounds to provide forage material and bedding material for livestock. The weight and size of the bales makes moving and positioning of the bales with manual force impractical. Further, the large round and square cross-sectional bales are densely compacted which makes disbursement of the forage material with manual force difficult, if not impossible.
A bale grinder is used to mechanically lift the bale into an enclosure having a rotary grinder positioned at a bottom of an enclosure. The rotary grinder shreds and discharges the forage material onto the ground for the livestock, such as cattle, to consume. The bale grinder typically has a deflector which directs the discharged forage material onto a selected area of the ground.
The bales, when dropped into the enclosure, have a tendency over time of damaging the enclosure walls, a conveyor or other mechanism used to urge the bale into the rotary grinder, and the rotary grinder because of the bale's weight. The damaged components require replacement for the bale grinder to function properly which causes the livestock producer to incur expenses in maintaining the bale grinder.